French dung beetles to rescue Australia from cattle manure

Australian scientists are releasing a new species of dung beetle this week to help dispose of cattle and sheep dung, which will reduce numbers of nuisance flies, according to a story in Entomology Today. In the 1970s and ’80s, government researchers brought 43 species of dung beetles to Australia to supplement native species—which preferred kangaroo and koala dung. The new species, Onthophagus vacca, comes from France and should take care of cattle dung in the early spring in southern Australia.